The team is doing great and we expect to receive an audio post later today. The post Nov 26 Aconcagua—A few photos from the team appeared first on ..read more

We’ve got some exciting news to share about the Telluride Via Ferrata (TVF)! This summer Mountain Trip is stepping up our game for an important cause by doubling the donation to the Telluride Mountain Club’s TVF Sustainability Fund. Starting in June, for every climber we guide on this iconic route, Mountain Trip will donate $10 to the fund. The Telluride Via Ferrata Sustainability Fund was established in 2019 to help provide resources to sustain and maintain the route, and since then Mountain Trip has donated more than $18,000 directly to the fund. Why? Because we’re not just about scaling m ..read more

Rising over 18,000 feet above the nearby tundra, Denali is infamous for its challenging weather. At 20,310 feet tall, and sitting at 63 degrees north latitude, Denali is the highest peak in the Arctic. “The Great One” can be a magnet for storms that blow in from the Gulf of Alaska or across the Bering Sea, and at times it seems to create its own weather with the summit enshrouded in lenticular clouds, a sign of the high winds hammering the mountain. Bad weather comes and goes with beautiful sunny, calm days typically mixed in with the windy and snowy stormy days. Over the course of a 22-day ..read more

Back in the early 1970s, Mountain Trip was born of a dirtbag climber’s daydream. Gary Bocarde, our founder, is a hero, a mentor and a friend. Gary grew his legend as a climber by tackling iconic first ascents like The Shield on El Capitan in 1972, first ascents of every peak on the east side of the Ruth Gorge in Alaska (many of which were guided FAs), the first winter ascent of Mount Hunter via the Northwest Spur in 1980, as well as establishing the first big wall in Alaska, climbing the Southwest Face to the southwest summit of the Mooses Tooth in 1974.  Gary also took his pursuits abro ..read more

“For skiers and snowboarders, there are few things that beat the feeling of waking up at 12,500 feet surrounded by untouched powder fields and towering mountains. But that’s the norm at Bridal Veil Backcountry Ski Camps, a brand-new backcountry ski camp above Telluride, Colorado”…   Read the full article on Travel + Leisure. The post Travel+Leisure features Mountain Trip + Helitrax Bridal Veil Basin Backcountry Ski Camp appeared first on ..read more

This summer we’ve had the opportunity to get to know some more members of our local community during both Telluride Via Ferrata and Rock Climbing trips geared toward our Latino peers. Through a partnership with the Sheep Mountain Alliance, Wilkinson Public Library and Tri-County Health Network, we learned that a whopping 30% of San Miguel County identifies as Latino/Hispanic and are native Spanish or Chuj speakers. Even though this is such a large part of our regional population, they are the most dramatically underrepresented group in our outdoors community. And yet, these same individuals re ..read more

What to Take Away from your Trip, When You Don’t Reach the Top written by Denali Guide: Marcus Bailado Climbing Denali is hard, the mountain doesn’t care who you are or what you have been through, it will push you further physically and mentally than you thought you were capable of. Sometimes we summit, and other times we do not, but every time we grow. Success on Denali is much more than standing on the highest point.   My late uncle had a saying, “if can, can”. Meaning if you are capable of doing something, you should do it. And as important as that idea is, I think the converse is equ ..read more

Well, it was a pretty epic season on the West Buttress of Denali this year! A record-breaking high-pressure system brought clear skies from the end of May through most of June, which ushered hundreds of climbers to the pearly white summit. The National Park Service reported a 70% summit rate this year, up from their yearly average of 40% (for unguided groups). A whopping 784 climbers stood on North America’s highest peak in 2022. Of those 784, Mountain Trip had 54 clients stand on the summit and about 40 guides for a total of 94 mountaineers this year. Nice work, team! This extended high-press ..read more

In a piece for the Telluride Daily Planet, Ski and Alpine Guide Maddie Crowell explains how she snacks for peak performance in the mountains. Check out her full piece here.   Snack Often (aka avoid the Hanger) Snack breaks are arguably the best part of snacking. It’s important to snack well, but also often.  Most of us are used to eating when we’re hungry, but that won’t fly when you’re on a big mountain adventure or are working your body super hard. It’s important to snack about once an hour to maintain the body’s blood sugar levels. Snacking is the best way to avoid a bonk, or ene ..read more

Reaching Baseline for Your First Backcountry Season with Kaylee Walden   The following is an excerpt from a Mountain Trip collaboration with SheJumps, in which our female guides share their tips and tricks of the trade. Visit the SheJumps blog to read the rest of the piece and gain some insight into what Kaylee does to have a successful season in the backcountry.   What do you have in your pack for a typical backcountry tour? There’s a baseline kit that you should have in your pack every single tour to be well prepared for a successful day.  Pack: Something in the 22-35 liter ra ..read more